This letter, dated August [[1967]], was written, but never sent to, a "Mr. Rang". It discusses the nomenclature to a great depth. Mr. Rang seems to have written this letter after J.S. Ryan wrote "German Mythology Applied". Tolkien tells that names and onomastics are a personal amusement of his, and in no way connected to real-world languages. He mentions ''[[Nomenclature]]'', his notes prepared for translators, and then sets to specific quieries and guesses by Rang.<br>

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A Mr. Rang seems to have written this letter after [[J.S. Ryan]] published "German Mythology Applied", and asked several questions about the names in Tolkien's book. Tolkien wrote a lengthy reply, but this letter was never sent.

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[[Iris|Gladden]] (the flower): Identified as ''[http://members.chello.nl/~m.vanzwam/gelelis-en.htm Iris pseudocorus]'', rather than the usual ''[http://www.floralimages.co.uk/pirisfoeti.htm Iris foetidissima]''. <br>

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[[Gimli]]: Rang connected it to a Anglo-saxon word that is not mentioned in the letter. Gimli's name comes from a poetic Old Norse word, ''gimm'', presumable meaning "fire". <br>

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[[Legolas]]: Rang had guessed "Fiery locks", to which Tolkien replies: "he was not a [[Balrogs|Balrog]]!". Legolas, as translated in the text, means Greenleaf.<br>

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[[Rohan]]: Rang found Old Norse ''rann'', "house". Tolkien writes his origin is inappropriate for a people that are (partly) still nomadic horsebreeders. Rohan is [[Sindarin]], meaning "Horse-land".<br>

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[[Nazgûl|Nazgul]] (sic): This too was connected to an Anglo-saxon word, ''gael-naes''. Tolkien never heard of that compound, and states there is no conceivable reason to conflate [[Black Speech]] and Anglo-saxon.<br>

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[[Moria]]: Rang connected it to the biblical mountain range of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriah Moriah]. Tolkien sees no connection between the mining of the [[Dwarves]] and the story of Abraham. <br>

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After this "setting straight", Tolkien tells of the extenral influences in names that are true. Dwarf names came from ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Völuspá Völuspá]''. Rohan was, in name only, influenced by the Normandic family [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohan_(family) Rohan]. ''[[Dor]]'', "land", has closer connections to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador Labrador] than to biblical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endor_(village) Endor]. Moria was chosen because Tolkien liked the ring of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soria_Moria_Castle Soria Moria castle].

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Tolkien told Mr. Rang that names and onomastics were a personal amusement of his, and in no way connected to real-world languages. He mentioned ''[[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings|Nomenclature]]'', his notes prepared for translators, and then discussed specific queries and guesses by Rang.

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* [[Iris|Gladden]] (the flower): Identified as ''[http://members.chello.nl/~m.vanzwam/gelelis-en.htm Iris pseudocorus]'', rather than the usual ''[http://www.floralimages.co.uk/pirisfoeti.htm Iris foetidissima]''.

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* [[Gimli#Etymology|Gimli]]: Rang connected it to a Anglo-saxon word that was not mentioned in the letter. Gimli's name comes from a poetic Old Norse word, ''gimm'', presumably meaning "fire".

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* [[Legolas]]: Rang had guessed "Fiery locks", to which Tolkien replied: "he was not a [[Balrogs|Balrog]]!". Legolas, as translated in the text, means Greenleaf.

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* [[Rohan]]: Rang found Old Norse ''rann'', "house". Tolkien wrote that his origin was inappropriate for a people that were (partly) still nomadic horsebreeders. Rohan was [[Sindarin]], meaning "Horse-land".

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* [[Nazgûl|Nazgul]] ''(sic)'': This too was connected to an Anglo-saxon word according to Rang, ''gael-naes''. Tolkien had never heard of that compound, and stated there was no conceivable reason to conflate [[Black Speech]] and Anglo-saxon.

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* [[Moria]]: Rang connected it to the biblical mountain range of [[wikipedia:Moriah|Moriah]]. Tolkien saw no connection between the mining of the [[Dwarves]] and the story of Abraham.<br>

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Then, Tolkien mentions a case where he was not aware of the "borrowing". For ''[[Nazg]]'', Tolkien was not aware that there was a Gaelic word ''nasc'', meaning "ring".

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After this "setting straight", Tolkien listed the external influences in names that were true. Dwarf names came from ''[[Völuspá]]''. Rohan was, in name only, influenced by the Normandic family [[wikipedia:Rohan (family)|Rohan]].

The only true borrowing was [[Eärendil the Mariner|Eärendil]], from an Anglo-saxon name ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurvandil Aurvandil]''. Both signify the Morning Star, Venus. As ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' was not yet published at the time, Tolkien writes in short the story of Ëarendil.

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Then, Tolkien mentioned a case where he was not aware of the "borrowing". For ''[[Nazg]]'', Tolkien was not aware that there was a Gaelic word ''nasc'', meaning "ring".

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A text note mentions the texts ends with a discussion of Númenórean religion, which is, unfortunaltely, omitted.

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The only true borrowing was [[Eärendil]], from an Anglo-saxon name ''[[wikipedia:Aurvandil|Aurvandil]]''. Both signify the Morning Star, Venus. As ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' was not yet published at the time, Tolkien wrote briefly about the story of Ëarendil.

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A text note mentioned the text ended with a discussion of Númenórean religion, which was, unfortunately, omitted.

{{letters}}

{{letters}}

Revision as of 15:05, 12 March 2012

Summary

A Mr. Rang seems to have written this letter after J.S. Ryan published "German Mythology Applied", and asked several questions about the names in Tolkien's book. Tolkien wrote a lengthy reply, but this letter was never sent.

Tolkien told Mr. Rang that names and onomastics were a personal amusement of his, and in no way connected to real-world languages. He mentioned Nomenclature, his notes prepared for translators, and then discussed specific queries and guesses by Rang.

Gimli: Rang connected it to a Anglo-saxon word that was not mentioned in the letter. Gimli's name comes from a poetic Old Norse word, gimm, presumably meaning "fire".

Legolas: Rang had guessed "Fiery locks", to which Tolkien replied: "he was not a Balrog!". Legolas, as translated in the text, means Greenleaf.

Rohan: Rang found Old Norse rann, "house". Tolkien wrote that his origin was inappropriate for a people that were (partly) still nomadic horsebreeders. Rohan was Sindarin, meaning "Horse-land".

Nazgul(sic): This too was connected to an Anglo-saxon word according to Rang, gael-naes. Tolkien had never heard of that compound, and stated there was no conceivable reason to conflate Black Speech and Anglo-saxon.

Moria: Rang connected it to the biblical mountain range of Moriah. Tolkien saw no connection between the mining of the Dwarves and the story of Abraham.

After this "setting straight", Tolkien listed the external influences in names that were true. Dwarf names came from Völuspá. Rohan was, in name only, influenced by the Normandic family Rohan.

Then, Tolkien mentioned a case where he was not aware of the "borrowing". For Nazg, Tolkien was not aware that there was a Gaelic word nasc, meaning "ring".

The only true borrowing was Eärendil, from an Anglo-saxon name Aurvandil. Both signify the Morning Star, Venus. As The Silmarillion was not yet published at the time, Tolkien wrote briefly about the story of Ëarendil.

A text note mentioned the text ended with a discussion of Númenórean religion, which was, unfortunately, omitted.